The Obligation
by galaxiies
Summary: The humans of Sinnoh are in a war with pokemon. When 16 year old Saoirse's father is fatally wounded in an attack, he leaves her with a quest: to find a woman named Cynthia. With the help of both an old friend and an unexpected one, Saoirse must navigate a tumultuous world. She soon realizes that the war is far more complicated than it seems to be, and she is caught in the middle.
1. Prelude: The Declaration

**The Obligation**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon and am in no way affiliated with the franchise or Nintendo.

**Author's Note: **The entirety of this story takes place in an AU, or Alternate Universe. Therefore, a majority of the events that occur in the television show, or gameplay did not happen in this story. If you are confused about any aspect of the canon universe in this story, please feel free to message me.

* * *

Prelude: _The Declaration_

He takes his position behind the smooth, mahogany podium bearing the crest of Sinnoh and adjusts his tie. The lights are glaring at him, bright and hot. Sweat beads begin to form and streak their way down his face, leaving visible paths. He reaches into his trouser pocket to try and find a handkerchief but an attendant has already arrived and pats down his skin for him.

"Just a few minutes before you go on camera, Champion Cyrus," the attendant says, glancing up at the large, square-faced man. "You must look your best. Now please remember, don't be...or rather, don't look nervous and..."

"I know," Cyrus cuts the attendant off mid-sentence. "I've done this before."

"Yes, of course. I still remember the speech you gave when you became Champion. It inspired me greatly," the attendant gazes admiringly at Cyrus before remembering the situation that they are in. He quickly sobers. "But never before have you had to give such a grim announcement."

"That," Cyrus says. "Is true." And it really is.

The attendant hurries out of the frame and Cyrus straightens up behind the podium. Setting a grim expression onto his face, he stares unblinkingly at the camera. The news he is about to give the region will change it forever. Never again will things go back to the way they were. He knows that his announcement will bring turmoil and that now, more than ever, Sinnoh will need a strong leader. He must be that leader.

The cameramen give him the signal. "Three...two...one. And we're live."

Cyrus does not need to look at the pieces of paper on which his speech is neatly printed. He knows the words as well as he knows the movesets and levels of the pokémon on his team, the pokémon who are now, more than ever, his slaves. His prisoners.

"Ladies and gentleman of the Republic of Sinnoh," he begins in a grave tone. "My name is Cyrus Maher. As you are aware, last week, we bid farewell to our former President, Ambrose Winters. President Winters is…was a great man and a revolutionary leader, and did not deserve to die in the way he did. At last week's meeting of the Sinnoh parliament, he was brutally shot by what we thought was a rogue Pokémon." He pauses. "The parliament launched an investigation into this tragedy- an investigation that was headed by none other than me. And, ladies and gentleman, we have found information that is truly shocking. As you all know, the pokémon are much like we are. They have their own government and intelligence force". He takes a deep breath. "We have found that the assassination of President Winters was orchestrated by the pokémon government."

There is a collective gasp of shock both in the newsroom and all across Sinnoh. Cyrus waits for it to die down before continuing.

"Such an unprovoked attack of violence will certainly have its repercussions. No more can we view pokémon as our friends and allies. In my power as the Sinnoh Pokémon Champion, I dissolve the Pokémon League. No longer shall we have a champion, elite four or gym leaders. No more shall we have contests, either." He clears his throat. "The Sinnoh Parliament has chosen to appoint me as acting President until the time when we may elect a new leader. I use this power to abolish all friendly and working relations with pokémon. Ladies and gentleman, from now on, we are at war with the pokémon species as a whole."

For a second, time is frozen. Sinnoh hasn't been to war for thousands and thousands of years. People sit in their homes, slowly realising that their entire lives are going to change, are going to be thrown together in a new order, a new configuration. No more pokémon battles or contests, no more help from pokémon in work, no more _anything_.

The understanding hits and time unfreezes.

And that is when all hell breaks loose.

* * *

_Reviews will be much appreciated. Also, I realise that this prologue is fairly short- the main chapters will be much longer._


	2. Chapter 1: Spark

**PART ONE: JOURNEY**

One: _Spark_

_Five years later._

"I am sure that I need not remind you that we are in a war. There will be deaths. Lives will be lost. But the people who died today in Veilstone City died with honor. They died with pride, for they died for our kind. The Pokémon are evil- to them, a life lost means nothing. But to us, it is a symbol. A symbol of something worth fighting for…"

I sigh quietly and turn the volume of the television down until I can barely hear it. I am sick of this. For the last five years, every time a city has been attacked, every time an army has been defeated in battle, every time we suffer any kind of loss, President Maher takes to nationwide television to give a speech. Although we have celebrated numerous victories, we have also been defeated a countless number of times, and hence the President has given countless speeches. So many that he himself has run out of things to say. Now, his speeches are almost identical, following exactly the same pattern, with only his diction changed around. Perhaps once upon a time, I might have found his speeches inspiring. Now, I find them repetitive and annoying. I don't want to watch them, but they are required viewing for all of Sinnoh.

I hear the low chanting of "long live humankind and the Republic of Sinnoh" coming from the TV set. Every news broadcast or mandatory viewing program always ends with this phrase. It is supposed to uplift us and inspire us to live, work and fight another day. I only find myself wishing that they would come up with something more unique and creative.

The image of the President fades off the screen and the television returns to its normal programs: propaganda films created by the government. It's not blatantly obvious that the programs are propaganda, but I can tell that they are. They always have some kind of message that supports the cause of the humans. Pokémon are evil. The war is for the best. Things that I have heard for so long but am unsure of whether or not they hold true.

I switch off the television for I want to preserve my brain cells. I shift on the sofa and stare out of the window at the pretty lines of houses and trees. The view of the rest of Twinleaf Town, a tiny town in the South of Sinnoh, is constant, unchanging. I miss the buzz of the bigger city; I was born and raised in Eterna City, a city which embraced nature. I would have been perfectly content to stay there for the rest of my life, but the war forced me away.

I was eleven years old when Sinnoh was thrown into turmoil. I can remember the days when Pokémon used to live together in perfect harmony- working together and forming strong bonds. As the Eterna Gym Leader, my mother had many Pokémon of her own. We had decided that when I turned thirteen, I would begin my own Pokémon journey to train Pokémon either for battles or for contests. That was just one of the things that this war would prevent me from doing.

When the war began, my father received a letter from the human intelligence. They wanted him to join their forces. He used to be a private investigator- the very best in Eterna. His skills would be very useful to the humans in the war. However, there was one catch: we would have to move to Jubilife City. Although my father denies it, I know he was reluctant to move. I was too. My mother had died three months prior to the start of the war and we both felt that leaving Eterna would be akin to leaving her behind. Three months is not a long time.

But when the government issues an order, we must follow. And hence we moved to Jubilife City. It was a huge change from what I was used to in Eterna, but my father constantly assured me it was for the best. But I was still constantly nervous; I had already heard about the deaths in cities such as Sunyshore and Canaclave, which had been among the first cities to be attacked. I was scared that something like that would happen to us in Jubilife, considering it was the largest city in Sinnoh. My father said it would not. It turned out that he was wrong. One year later, Jubilife City was bombed to high heavens. We barely managed to escape with our lives.

Intelligence headquarters were shifted to Twinleaf Town, which is relatively obscure. The government figure that the Pokémon would never suspect. I agree with them; before I moved here, I'd only heard of Twinleaf once before, in geography class. We've been safe here for four years, and I hope our luck continues.

I am alone at home, as I am on most weekdays. My father is at the underground headquarters, working. I suspect he'll only be home very late- they will have to deal with the repercussions of the Veilstone attack.

I lean forward and pick up a book from the table in front of me. Thanks to my fathers' job, I have managed to procure banned books about Pokémon history. The book I am currently reading is about the Pokémon League in the Unova region, a region far from here that is untouched by the war. I find it fascinating; to think that just five years ago, a similar league existed in Sinnoh and my mother was a part of it.

I open the book to the page I was on and begin reading when I suddenly feel the air changed. The peace and quiet vanish and I can sense imminent danger. I freeze and take a deep breath. The air tickles my nose…no, _tickles_ isn't correct. That isn't how it feels. It's more of a _tingling _feeling.

That is when the first bolt of lightning hits the ground outside, scorching the grass. I know immediately that this is no ordinary thunderstorm. This is an electric attack, one of the most powerful forms of Pokémon attacks used against humans, one of the few that can penetrate the ground. Realization quickly dawns upon me; they are targeting the intelligence headquarters.

_And my father is inside._

Sparks begin shooting out from electric plug points. I drop down to the floor and crawl behind the sofa, trying to shield myself from the burning electric fragments. A few hit my skins, making me cry out with pain. I know that I am not safe here; electric attacks make technology go crazy. Any moment now, the television will start discharging huge bolts of electricity that will no doubt kill me if they hit.

My brain is frozen. I have never been in an electric attack before, I have never been alone in any type of attack before and _I do not know what to do_. I lie on the floor, whimpering, trying to figure out where I have to go. My house is filled with technology and electric points. _If I stay here, I will be killed_.

_I have to find my father_.

This is the thought that dominates my brain. I must find him. He will know what to do. I have to get underground, to the headquarters. We have a passage connecting our house to the headquarters. The entrance is behind the bookshelf.

_The bookshelf_.

I crawl to the bookshelf and search frantically for the lever that will cause it to swing aside, revealing the entrance to the passage. I cannot think straight, I cannot remember where it is, _my brain is not working_. I fumble blindly before remembering: second shelf, third book. My hand grips the lever and I pull it sharply. The bookcase slides to the side, divulging a hole in the wall that I know will lead to my father. I barely manage to get into the passage before a huge lightning bolt discharges from the television and nearly hits me.

The passage is dark, and damp. I hurry through it, tripping on a few rocks. I almost fall on my face at first, but I manage to save myself and become more careful. My heart is beating fast and I can barely breathe. All I can think about is getting to headquarters. I can feel the electricity running through the air, the lightning bolts hitting the ground above me. The only thing stopping them from getting to me is a layer of concrete above the passage, which I know will break if it is bombarded too much. The headquarters has the same layer of concrete, but I am scared that it has already been penetrated because I know that the bombardment will be concentrated there.

Then suddenly, it stops. The electricity is gone. I should be relieved but I am not. I know that they have achieved their goal; the intelligence headquarters must have been destroyed.

When I stumble out into the control room of the headquarters, I can barely breathe.

The room is in disarray. Computers are burnt out, wires are sparking and papers are burnt. Parts of the ceiling have caved in. I can see bodies on the floor and I try not to look at them, but I can't help myself. I recognize my father's friends. Dead. Gone. Some of their eyes are open and I want to reach out to close them, but I cannot bring myself to.

I run through the confusing passageways and reach my fathers office. The glass door is shattered and tiny, sharp fragments of grass litter the ground. I step around the glittering pieces carefully. One wrong step could pierce an artery.

The office looks exactly like the rest of the compound. My father's carefully maintained files have split open and confidential intelligence documents are scattered all over the floor. Cupboards have collapsed and some are still on fire. His computer screen is cracked. The lightbulbs are flickering, and one pops, darkening the room.

There is one thing missing. I cannot see my father.

"Dad!" I scream. My voice resounds, the sound hitting the walls and coming back to me. I scream again and again, until suddenly I can hear another voice, shakily addressing me from behind the table.

"Saoirse."

I run around the desk and see my father, lying in a pool of his own blood. He lifts a hand weakly and reaches out to me. "Saoirse."

"Dad," I kneel beside him and grasp his hand. "Dad, please, can you get up? I'll get you to the medical centre, you'll be fine."

"It's too late Saoirse, my love," he smiles faintly at me and runs his thumb along my palm. "I'm dying."

"No," I can feel tears prick at the sides of my eyes. "No." He isn't going to die, I refuse to believe it. I cannot lose both my parents. "You're all I have."

"No," he shakes his head softly. "I am not."

The tears are coming more steadily now, but I am still trying to control them. I don't want my father to see my cry, not in his last moments.

"Shh, Saoirse," he says. "I need you to listen…there is…something I must tell you."

"What is it?"

"The war…it is not what it seems."

"What do you mean?"

He shakes his head again, and I try to stop him. He needs to conserve his energy. "What you know…what everyone knows…it's not completely true. Vital information is being withheld from you, from everyone."

"I don't understand."

"I cannot tell you here. I fear they may be listening. I have been working on something, something I will never finish now. Something that will liberate both humans and Pokémon from an unfair, complicated war where the sides are false and blurred. You must liberate them."

I was straining to hear, to understand, but I couldn't. "Dad, what do you need me to do?"

He looks straight up at me. "Darling, I need you to find Cynthia."

I start to ask who this 'Cynthia' is, but he stops me. "I love you, Saoirse. I will always be with you and will do all I can to guide you on this quest."

And then his eyes roll back in his head and he is gone.


End file.
